Lightweight helmets for head protection during bicycle riding falls and accidents have continuously evolved and undergone numerous improvements in recent years. One particular area of refinement has been in the removable attachment of visors to helmets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,923 discloses an interface apparatus that uses screws to attach the visor and a chin guard to the helmet. However, modern lightweight bicycle helmets are formed with a thin hard plastic shell surrounding a lightweight foam liner. The foam provides very minimal support for the screws, and the minimal screw/shell contact provides insufficient support and tends to wear and be unusable after a number of detachments and reattachments. More importantly, such a visor mounting scheme does not provide the wearer the ability to easily adjust the visor position for varying degrees of protection from the sun. As a wearer rides toward the sun, the desired position of the visor will vary depending upon personal preference and the position of the sun relative to the wearer's head at any give time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,328 discloses using hook and loop fastening patches to removably attach a visor to a helmet. While such an attachment technique provides an adjustable attachment between helmet and visor, it is not convenient, and in fact quite difficult, for the wearer to adjust the visor position (especially while riding). For example, as a wearer rides away from the sun, a higher visor position is desired for increased visibility. However, as the wearer rides toward the sun, and/or as the sun drops lower in the sky, lower visor positions are desired for increased protection from the sunlight. Removing and reattaching the hook and loop fastening patches is difficult to perform while riding, and is especially cumbersome if the wearer desires making many visor position changes while riding conditions change.
There is a need for a modern, lightweight helmet with an attachment apparatus that removably and adjustably secures a helmet accessory such as a visor to the helmet. Such an attachment apparatus needs to securely attach the helmet visor to the helmet, yet be easily adjustable, reliable, inexpensive, and easy to manufacture.